Follow Blog via Email

Follow me on Twitter

The Liebster Award

Dear Reader,

I have been nominated for a Liebster Award by a very interesting blogger named Laura (Check out her blog)

I have blogged for a long time, years really, but I have failed to keep those blogs moving forward for various reasons. Mostly because I wasn’t writing about things that were important to me, instead I was writing about what I thought people wanted to read. Since I began blogging my mental health journey I have discovered so much about myself and others and it really has been a huge learning curve. I have learnt that in writing about something personal makes writing more enjoyable and easy. I like to write about my journey, I like to think it helps people. The aim of this award seems to be promotion, and we could all do with a little promotion.

There are some rules that must be followed when completing a Liebster Award nomination post these are:

Answer the questions you’re given and then come up with 10 new ones to ask your nominations

You must nominate 8 other blogs followed by an explanation about why they’re such talented and seamless bloggers with a link to their blog.

It’s for small blogs only to spread the word so nominations must have less than 200 followers.

You must tell the blogs you’ve nominated them.

My Questions:

1) If you could invite 5 people to a dinner (regardless of whether they’re alive or unrealistic or what not) who would you invite and why?

This is a very interesting question and the one I have had to put the most thought into.

I picked Charlie because The Perks of Being a Wallflower is a book that really stuck with me, when I read this book I didn’t know what to expect, but I couldn’t put it down, I related to Charlie, I remember feeling the way he did. In a way (inadvertently because I have really only just realised this) the book has influenced how I write my blog posts. I write in the form of letters, as Charlie does in TPOBAWF. The next person I picked was Leslie Knope, for those of you who have never seen Parks and Recreation, Leslie is a strong female character who gets things done. She is hard-working and optimistic and I really wish I was as optimistic as her. My third invite would be Paul Thomas Anderson, PT Anderson is a film director who directed some of my favourite films, Magnolia, Boogie Nights and Hard Eight. Magnolia is especially important to me as when I was at a point in my life when I was unable to feel emotion it really drew out some emotions in me. I watch this film frequently. It is so very important to me. Douglas Coupland is my favourite author, it had been a long time since I had read a book fully, or really had the motivation to when I picked up his book Jpod 9 years ago. I couldn’t put it down, I loved his writing style, I bought all of Coupland’s books. I found my favourite to be a book called Elanor Rigby, to this day I am yet to find someone who appreciates this book the way I do. But I hope to inspire someone to read it and enjoy it in the future. Finally, I picked Robin Williams, and this may seem like a cop out choice but I have my reasons. See, Im not going to say I was his biggest fan, I’m not going to say I went out of my way to see his work, he existed in a world I lived in and that is as far as it went. He was never an actor I would go out of my way to watch a film featuring. But, his death really struck a chord with me, I thought I was shocked when Heath Ledger died, or Philip Seymour Hoffman. But when it was announced Robin Williams had died, and that it had been a suicide. I was more than shocked. I was going through a rough time myself and I honestly don’t really know what else to say, except Id like to thank him because he really showed me the true feelings that some of the people around me (that don’t know about my mental health) feel about mental health and that truly is a blessing.

2) If you had to choose between losing a leg or an arm, which would you choose and why?

I think I would choose a leg, I would miss being able to write if I lost an arm, not that I wouldn’t be able to, I’m sure I would. But it would be easier with two arms. Losing a leg would make my job almost impossible, soit’s a hard one. I think if I lost a leg there is more chance of me learning to walk with a prosthesisthan getting a robotic arm. And if I did have a robotic arm I may be able to type without getting cramp in my fingers.

3) If you had to either live during the day or during the night, which would you pick?

Probably the day, I used to be a morning person, now not so much. But I would miss seeing some of the people in my life if I was only awake at night. And also, I like sleeping. A lot more than I used to.

4) Describe your perfect wedding

This is also hard, I’m not sure where I stand on weddings to be honest. I feel they put a lot of unneeded stress on a relationship and that is very unfortunate. But, I’m not going to pretend I haven’t thought about a wedding because I think its natural to think of it. I studied film at university, so I tend to think of how I would want my wedding to look on video more than in reality. I know that probably sounds very strange. I would like things to be in shades of white and red. I would like it to be in an older looking building, not necessarily a church. Part of me wants it to be a very intimate private event and another part of me wants it to be big and exciting. With people dancing down the aisle like they did in that YouTube video.

5) Describe your perfect partner?

My perfect partner, has to be taller than me, have a sense of humour and be willing to accept my mental instability. My current partner has all of these things. I’m not going to say he’s perfect. Don’t want his ego getting any bigger. But a sense of humour is definitely the main one.

6) Do you prefer coffee, tea or squash?

I don’t really like hot drinks and it’s very rare that I ever drink one. If I do its a hot chocolate. I drink a lot of fizzy drinks, I know they aren’thealthy, but nothing else seems to feel like it quenches my thirst. My favourite drinks are orange flavoured.

7) What’s the best thing you’ve ever eaten?

I honestly don’t know, I had had some great meals, I love the curry that my mum makes, I love when my mum cooked beef for so long it falls to pieces. I love a good southern fried chicken burger and I love a big mac. It’s too hard for me to pick

8) What drink do you order at the bar?

I usually drink either vodka and coke or some kind of strawberry flavoured cider. Or a cocktail, it depends who I am with. I tend to drink what will get me drunk, quickest and cheapest. I’m not a good drunk though. I tend to get very depressed after the event has finished.

9) What’s your favourite season and why?

Winter. I love being cold and Christmas is one of my favourite things. I am the epitome of Christmas spirit for pre Christmas part of December. I like to wear scarves and hats, I like to wear thick hoodies. I like snow.

10) How old do you want to be when you have children or how old were you and why?

I don’t have children, and I don’t really know how old I want to be when I have them. I think that I’m at a point in my life where if I had a child it would not be a negative. But mentally I don’t feel stable enough to bring a child in to the world just yet. My mother was 32 when she had me. I am 25 so I have at least 7 years left before I am going to worry.

My nominations:

1. http://ahuelon.wordpress.com/ A fantastic blog about bi-polar depression and the difficult journey associated. Also written by a woman who has given me so much support recently.

3. http://autismdoodle.com/ Another great blog, written by Doodle who writes about the journey through life with his “girl and boy” and the ups and downs of autism. Doodle has been very supportive of me and I really appreciate that.

I chose these blogs because they all inspire me to keep writing, I understand that some of them probably won’t want to or even be able to and that is fine, as long as they know I appreciate them that is enough.

My Questions to these bloggers would be:

1. If there was a singular wish you could have granted (standard rules: no wish for wishes, etc.) what would you wish for and why?

2. What quote inspires you the most?

3. What is your favourite book?

4. What is your favourite movie?

5. Who inspires you?

6. Being outside or inside?

7. What is your greatest fear?

8. What is your proudest achievement?

9. What superpower would you like?

10. If you could invite 5 people to a dinner (regardless of whether they’re alive or unrealistic or what not) who would you invite and why?

Thanks for the nomination. I don’t have 200 followers but wanted to answer your questions anyway just for fun. 1. I wish I could have prevented my grandson from tearing his ACL that will prevent him from participating in sports for a year.2. Fav. saying. No matter where you go there you are..F 3.favorite book. America and First-Rate Madness. (what ever I am reading at time) 4. Movie, Tootsie, 5 Jack Elias, a teachers I had 20 years ago. 6. Inside. 7. Greatest fear, Heights. 8. Greatest achievement, That I have really learned to listen and hear what is being said. 9. Super power, Empowering others . 10. Five people for dinner My dad, Gandi, Jesus, Buda, Captain Rick. Great questions.

Congratulations. I love reading your blog, you speak to me on a level that many people I know in real life don’t even know exists.

As a side note, this sentence: “I tend to drink what will get me drunk, quickest and cheapest.” made me laugh, purely because that is the exact thought process I go through when ordering a drink! I have been known to stand at a bar with a five pound note, hand it to the bar tender and say “what is the strongest possible drink I can get for this?” – I’m sure they all hate me.

Congratulations for the award. I don’t participate in the awards but thank you very much for mentioning me.
I think what you wrote — that writing your journey might help others — is very true. You have been very open and that is important. I don’t think you have ever asked for sympathy or comfort. You have honestly shared your feelings. We are cheering for you. 🙂